The SDFLA Blog is dedicated to providing news and notes regarding federal practice in the Southern District of Florida. The New Times calls the blog "the definitive source on South Florida's federal court system." All tips on court happenings are welcome and will remain anonymous. Please email David Markus at dmarkus@markuslaw.com

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

B-Girls trial to start

Judge Scola will be presiding over this month long trial involving South Beach clubs, booze, and hot women (known as B-girls). According to Jay Weaver of the Miami Herald:

On trial starting Tuesday are four reputed associates, along with a Sunny Isles Beach investor who once dabbled in local politics. They’re accused of orchestrating a fraud scheme to run up the credit card bills of South Beach tourists by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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Among those standing trial: Stanislav Pavlenko, 41, Albert Takhalov, 31, Kristina Takhalov, 31, and Siavash Zargari, 48, who live in the Aventura and Sunny Isles Beach area. Longtime Sunny Isles real estate broker Isaac Feldman, 51, is the fifth defendant

What about the alleged victims? More from Jay:

In total, the B-Girls, who received 20 percent commissions for bringing in customers, ripped off about 90 patrons, mostly tourists or businessmen with telltale signs of wealth, such as expensive watches or shoes, authorities say.

One victim from Philadelphia, who was approached by two B-Girls at the Delano Hotel, complained he was taken for $43,000 at Caviar Beach on Washington Avenue. His American Express bill included dozens of charges for booze.

In court papers, the victim is identified as “J.B.” According to lawyers in the case as well as published reports, the victim was John Bolaris, a former Philadelphia TV weatherman who gave an interview to Playboy magazine for an article on the case.

Myles Malman wants to be able to go after JB to show there was no crime here:

But Feldman’s lawyer, Malman, said his goal in questioning J.B. is “to establish that he consciously and intentionally tried to pick up two women at the bar at the Delano Hotel, spent large amounts of money on alcohol in an effort to impress them and/or to induce them to engage in physical relations with him, and is in reality no victim at all,” according to a court filing.

The Southern District of Florida blog was started by David Oscar Markus, who is a criminal trial and appellate lawyer in Miami, Florida. He frequently practices in federal courts around the country, including his hometown, the Southern District of Florida and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a former law clerk to then-Chief Judge of the District, Edward B. Davis.